I’m a cleaning whizz – five ways to make your home always look tidy in less than ten minutes
LET’S be honest, we are not always great at keeping up with the household chores.
And while it’s perfectly fine for your house to not look like a show home, unexpected guests can get our hearts racing.
When someone announces a last-minute visit we spent half an hour rushing around trying to make the home look pristine.
But now a cleaning pro has shared five easy jobs you can do to stay on top of the cleaning and make sure it’s always ready for visitors.
Melissa Caverly, the founder of Imagine Maids,shared the ten minutes jobs to stay on top.
She told the Mirror that the first place to start was in the bedroom in the morning by making the bed.
Not only will it instantly make your room more tidy but Melissa says: Making your bed each morning puts you in an organised mindset from the start, influencing the rest of your day.”
Additionally, a well-made bed serves as a practical surface for any tidying endeavours throughout the day, such as folding laundry or sorting belongings.
One of the reasons we hate cleaning is because we have to go and find the cleaning products we need.
Often, we put them all under the kitchen sink – meaning if we need to quickly dust an upstairs bathroom, we might put it off rather than head downstairs for the supplies.
However, it could be more beneficial to separate them and put them where they are needed in the house.
Keep bathroom cleaning supplies in the bathroom and kitchen cleaning supplies solely in the kitchen.
Using a storage bin under the bed for dusters, window cleaners and other essentials for the bedroom.
Melissa added that this setup encourages frequent cleaning since you won’t have to leave the room to fetch supplies, especially for minor messes.
Monthly trips to the charity shop can also kee4p your home clean and tidy.
It could take just ten minutes to go around and look at clutter and chuck into a box or rubbish bag.
Dirtiest Items In Your Home You’re Probably Forgetting To Clean
Research shows people are exposed to an average of 60,000 types of germs on a daily basis.
Cleaning expert and Product Development Scientist at Astonish, Olivia Young, reveals the dirtiest items in your home and how to clean them.
Kitchen sponges or cloths
Some of the items we use to clean surfaces are actually the dirtiest. From wiping down worktops, to cleaning dishes, kitchen sponges or clothes are used multiple times throughout the day. And when doing so, it’s usually wet and warm, meaning if it’s not cleaned properly, it can be a prime spot for bacteria to grow.
As a general rule of thumb, if you’ve used your sponge for around two weeks – it’s time to replace it.
Shoes
Shoes are without a doubt an item in your home that is full of bacteria. A study suggested a single shoe sole has an average of 421,000 units of bacteria, but there’s no need to panic.
Most of these germs that gather on shoes won’t come into contact with other areas of your house, assuming that you take them off as you enter or put them in a box in your wardrobe.
Pet bowls and toys
Pet bowls have actually been found to be the third most contaminated item in households, meaning they are a breeding ground for germs and bacteria that could make you and your pet unwell.
Give them a wash with warm soapy water after each use to keep bacteria at bay. For toys, if they’re plastic you can soak them in warm water with either disinfectant or soap, soft toys can be cleaned thoroughly in a washing machine on a gentle cycle.
Toothbrush holder
Your toothbrush holder is probably not something you’ve considered to be dirty – but there’s more germs in the container that holds your toothbrush, than the taps on your sink.
Clean your toothbrush holder at least once or twice a week.
The cleaning pro recommends doing this at the start of the month, and taking it to a donation site at the end.
Anything you pull out during the month can stay but whatever is left can get donated.
This will mean your house will be clutter-free without having to set aside hours for a big clear out.
The kitchen is often the main-hub for your family so it can quickly turn into a mess.
Instead of leaving dishes in the sink at night, Melissa recommends ‘closing down’ the kitchen like you would in a restaurant.
She says: “Imagine treating your own kitchen as if it were your personal restaurant and apply the same principles.
“Establish a close-down rule, such as ensuring all dishes are either in the dishwasher, drying rack, or cabinets—not left in the sink.”
Last but not least, Melissa urged people to stack their chores instead of doing them one-by-one using a technique called chore stacking.
“Consider the timer on appliances like the dishwasher or washing machine as your amount of time to tackle other chores,” advises Melissa.
“Use this time to accomplish additional tasks around the house, like dusting or decluttering surfaces.”